Hungarian Painting and Sculpture in the Nineteenth Century [antikvár]

HISTORICAL PAINTING The gallery of historical painting forms a separate unit of the permanent exhibition prominently sited on the two sides of the Cupola Hall (Building C). The origin of this genre is rooted in the political and social movements of the 19th century, and it continued to remain sensitive to public events. It assumed real social significance in countries where the presence of some foreign power placed obstacles in the path leading to national independence. The 19th centu ry was the time of the emergence of nation states throughout Europe, and in Hungary this process went hand in hand with the growth of a bourgeois society centred on the 1848/49 Revolution. Though its origins reach back to the late 18th century, historical painting was in full flower in the second half of the 19th century in Hungary when, in the decades after the defeat of the 1848/49 Revolution, it grew into an effective supporter of national resistance, with the declared aim of influencing the public by emotional means. This lent it major significance in the development and shaping of national consciousness in the country. Alongside the portrayal of current events, the main source of subjects was the national past, which was conjured up symbolically in the paintings, whether they treated some event or an outstanding personality. They transmitted messages that were valid at the time of painting. In cases of a fortunate encounter of theme and style, the works assumed general validity, expressing a moral and philosophical message that went beyond mere timeliness. On the first lanfding opposite the main entrance, the visitor encounters a monumental work by Peter Krafft (1780—1856):